The Journey 

I knew I was meant to be a professional trader within the first year of me learning the ropes. I believe that anyone can be a successful trader as long as they are coachable, humble, patient and dedicated. It's been important for me to have a full time job during this process not only to have income for trading but also pull me away from the market for the much needed perspective I needed. Self-awareness is key and if you don't have it, you wont make it as a trader. In the same way that you change time frames on a chart from the intraday to daily to get the bigger picture, you must detach yourself from the market and see the bigger picture. 

Criteria

After 2 years of almost 1000 trades I have so much data that I was able to sift through, pictures of setups that worked and didn't work. I realized that much of  my time and capital has been wasted on bad setups that don't fit my criteria. Throw FOMO out the door, who cares about the guy who made 6 figures while you lost $100. The trades that worked all had a few things in common:

1. Sector momentum

2. Previous runner 

3. Breaking News

Scanner Criteria

I use Finviz to find stocks in play and keep an eye for gappers, this is my scanner criteria that I use:

1. Relative Volume: <2M

2. Current Volume <1M

3. Price >$20

4. Change <10%

Patterns

1. First Green Day

2. Multi Day Breakout

3. ABCD

Breakeven By EOY

My goal for the remainder of 2023 if to be breakeven on my profit chart, this is my plan to achieve this:

1. Execute every trade like you are doing so in front of a chat room with thousands of people, where people are relying you for this trade to go well, to explain why you took it, your R/R and mentality. 

2. Write down the trade criteria checklist, is it a previous runner? Does it have sector momentum or breaking news? If the daily and intraday charts align and you can find a good R/R take the trade. Add if it confirms and sell into strength. 

3. Ego death: You will be wrong 50% of the time, cut you loss and move on. No revenge trading for sloppy seconds. Be patient for the next perfect entry, you might see only 2-3 a month but that's all you need. 

4. Business mindset: This is your business, not a game. Just like a real estate agent prospects and stays sharp everyday to finally get those 2-3 big sales a month, you need to be on your A game and realize that you will not make a trade everyday.